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Six Nations will go ahead despite coronavirus fears but schedule changes not ruled out

Six Nations organisers say this year's tournament will continue as planned, despite growing fears...



Six Nations organisers say this year's tournament will continue as planned, despite growing fears over the coronavirus. 

Ireland's game with Italy - planned for the Aviva Stadium this Saturday - is the only game so far to be postponed due to the outbreak of Covid-19.

Tournament officials met in Paris today to discuss the roadmap for the rest of this year's competition, and could not rule out further changes to the schedule.

The EU today rose the official risk related to the coronavirus to "moderate to high".

No rescheduled date for Ireland's game with the Azzurri has been revealed, and organisers admit the remaining schedule is at the mercy of the six nations' respective governments. There have been discussions with the FIR and the RFU about relocating the women's (Padua) and Under-20 (Verona) games away from Northern Italy.

A spokesperson told AFP, "This meeting is about taking stock and assessing rescheduling options.

"So far, apart from the Ireland v Italy match for our senior men's event, all matches are OK to take place but governments might decide otherwise and we need to be prepared for any eventuality.

With the number of confirmed infections rising across the continent, including 40 in the UK, Six Nations say they are prepared for further postponements, "There are important government meetings in various countries in the next couple of days and we will need to see what guidance comes out of these meetings."

In a statement, the Six Nations wrote:

The Six Nations met today in Paris to address the current situation regarding the Covid19 Virus. Six Nations and its six unions and federations are following the situation very closely with their respective governments and relevant health authorities and will strictly follow any directive given that would impact sporting events.

As it stands today, based on the latest information, all Six Nations matches currently scheduled are set to go ahead.

Six Nations is in contact with FIR and RFU regarding the possibility of relocating the Women’s and U20 Italy vs England matches to another Italian location and we will make a further announcement on this in due course. However, the Italy vs England Senior Men’s match in Rome is planned to go ahead as scheduled.

Six Nations intends to complete all 15 games across all three Championships when time allows but we will refrain from making any rescheduling announcements for the time being while we keep assessing the situation.

Remaining Six Nations fixtures: 

March 7: England v Wales, Twickenham, 4.45pm

March 8: Scotland v France, Murrayfield, 3pm

March 14: Wales v Scotland, Principality Stadium, 2.15pm

March 14: Italy v England, Stadio Olimpico, 5.45pm

March 14: France v Ireland, Stade de France, 8pm

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Coronavirus Covid-19 England France Ireland Italy Paris Six Nations Stade De France Twickenham Wales